


feels like i'm falling into a world i can't control

by boston_sized_city



Category: A Neon Darkness, The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Accidentally Killing Your Bf With Fire Powers, Fire, Heavy Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boston_sized_city/pseuds/boston_sized_city
Summary: Alex thinks he's finally, truly happy. He thinks it could last. That's a new feeling.
Relationships: Alex Chen/Original Male Character
Kudos: 10





	feels like i'm falling into a world i can't control

**Author's Note:**

> title from bad dream by ruelle
> 
> cw for character death, fire/burns

Alex thinks he's finally, truly happy. He thinks it could last. That's a new feeling.

He doesn't want to trust it. He  _ can't _ trust it. Nothing good ever lasts for him, he learned that lesson a long time ago. Every time he lets himself feel even a flicker of hope, for even a second, the good thing goes up in flames, melting away right through his fingers. It's always gone too fast.

But he can't help it, he never can. Happiness calls him in, like a moth to a flame, and he follows it blindly. And now happiness is lying next to him, and Alex can only hear his steady breathing, can only watch his chest rise and fall as he sleeps, perfect curls framing his face.

Alex should be asleep, too. He shouldn't be lying awake, on his side, watching the boy next to him. He shouldn't be focusing on the way his borrowed sweater itches, or the way his arm might be going numb underneath him. He sighs, softly, and curls into the other boy's side, finally closing his eyes.

_ He thinks he's having a nightmare. It's dark, pitch-black, and the only sound is a loud ringing in his ears. He stumbles, and then the sound gets louder, and louder, and suddenly it's not ringing anymore, but the loud roar of a fire. _

_ The dream lights up orange and red, and he can see the flames licking up the walls, up the ceiling. They're all around him, caving in. He can't breathe, smoke in his lungs, in his eyes. For once in his life, the flames aren't coming from him. _

_ They're coming  _ for  _ him. _

He wakes up, his scream dying in his throat. And something is wrong. Then it registers.

He can hear the crackling of fire, smell the burning furniture. He can feel it, too, the pain all over his body,  _ inside  _ him. And then, dread washing over him, he realizes.

He scrambles up and out of bed, but it's too late. The bed is in flames. He can barely make out the badly burned figure lying in the fire. He hadn't even woken up. Alex is shaking hard, and he can't move, can't breathe.

His vision blurs, going red as he watches his own fire take away the happiness that he thought he had. That he'd finally thought he could hold onto. 

Alex screams. 


End file.
